RCR & Scholarly Activity In-Person Training

Introduction

Why is UK mandating RCR training?

“As a public institution of higher education, public confidence in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) by faculty, staff and students is critical. We must promote and maintain a culture that is supported by an infrastructure that educates and assists in the ethical conduct of research.”

Lisa Cassis PhD, UK Vice President for Research (VPR)

UK has had research misconduct cases in the past few years due to a failure of some researchers to follow Responsible Conduct of Research.

This effects:

  • The reputation of UK and its researchers;
  • Researchers/research personnel affiliated with the wrongdoer;
  • Personnel managing the process for research misconduct;
  • Researchers doing honest work that could have received the research funding used;
  • General public if faulty data is used in publications is relied upon by the medical community, product development, etc.

Areas of RCR Training at UK

  • Mentoring
  • Conflict of Interest
  • Peer Review
  • Research Misconduct
  • Data Management
  • Safe Work Environments
  • Reproducibility

What Will The Rest of the Day Look Like?

  • Observe 3 case studies
  • Discuss in groups
  • Summarize key points

Must have minimum 1 hour of contact together

Case Study One

Research Misconduct

Let’s talk plagiarism!

Through this case, learners will:

  • learn about ethical issues with regard to plagiarism
  • learn about available plagiarism resources
  • consider ethical writing practices

Case Study #1

Discussion

  1. Sum up the general problem under scrutiny.
  2. What aspects of the scenario stood out the most to the group?
  3. Was the graduate student right to be concerned about this practice?
  4. What do you think of the post-doc’s explanation for why he reused old papers?
  5. What might happen if the PI does not change the text before publication?
  6. What do you think of GS’ decision to not talk to anyone about her concerns?
  7. What could happen is she does pursue this line of questioning?
  8. What would you do in her place?

Additional Resources

Case Study Two

Peer Review

In this session, learners will consider misconduct during the peer review process.

Through this case, learners will:

  • learn about ethical conduct related to the peer review process

Case Study #2

Discussion

  1. What are the issues raised by this case?
  2. What are the rules for serving as a reviewer of grant proposals? How can those rules be enforced?
  3. Should proposals be reviewed by people who do not work in your field? Why or why not?
  4. Can we ensure that reviewers do not gain an unfair advantage when conducting research and competing for funding when they get to read other researcher’s confidential and innovative proposals? If so, how?
  5. Under what circumstances would you file a complaint? What are the pros and cons of reporting such theft as a form of misconduct? To whom should the complaint be reported?
  6. Have you ever had anyone steal one of your research ideas? How did you deal with it, and what lessons did you learn?

Additional Resources

Case Study Three

Safe Work Environment

In this session, learners will consider issues related to a safe working environment and how to address these concerns. Learners will review a brief case study and respond to questions related to the presented scenario.

Through this case, learners will:

  • examine a scenario in which an employee no longer feels they have a safe working environment
  • consider how to approach such a scenario
  • learn about university resources related to the scenario

Case Study #3

Discussion

  1. Sum up the general problem under scrutiny.
  2. Do you think Lauren was correct in assuming that Don didn’t want to present?
  3. Do you think Don should confront Lauren again?

Additional Resources

  • Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity: located at 13 Main Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0032; main office phone: (859) 257-8927; main office fax: (859) 323-3739
  • Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity webpage: https://www.uky.edu/eeo/
  • UK Human Resources webpage: https://www.uky.edu/hr/home

Feedback

Reflect

  • What were your big takeaways from the training today?
  • What lingering questions do you still have regarding the content?
  • How might you improve this training specifically for graduate students in the future?

Case Studies

Post-session RCR Case Study Survey - https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_79CaFBt2jglwtMi

Thank you!!

Questions?